


Wonderful Tonight

by theimpossiblepossiblegirl



Series: 52 Short Stories in 52 Weeks [31]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (TV Movie 1996)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 10:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7680811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theimpossiblepossiblegirl/pseuds/theimpossiblepossiblegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a rocky few years of marriage, Nate pleads with Rose to give him a second chance. When she agrees, he plans a romantic holiday for the two of them in hopes that they can talk and get back to where they were.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wonderful Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> Week Thirty-one: A story set at sea.
> 
> A/N: I took many liberties with this story. I have no regrets.

“We could go on a cruise.” Nate suggested as he leaned back in his chair. He had broached the subject of them taking a trip together for their anniversary two weeks ago and she had negated everything he suggested. He understood why, but he wanted to do something special for her.

Rose wrinkled her nose slightly, shrugging her shoulders. “How much would it be?”

“It’s our five year anniversary Rose, I’ll take care of it.”

“I hate when you won’t let me pay my own way, Nate.”

“It’s our anniversary. I want us to do something different. I want to do something for you.” He countered, his patience wavering. “You’re my wife, I want to take care of you.” He explained, for what felt like the millionth time over the course of their relationship.

“I can take care of myself.” She sniped, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I know you can.” He told her softly as she stood up from his chair. “That is what I love most about you.” He brushed some hair out of her face before cupping her cheek in his hand. “Two week cruise. We can go to Italy, Spain, and Portugal.”

“Can you actually take two weeks off from work?” She narrowed her eyes at him, her patience running thin. “Last time we tried to take a long weekend together you had to cancel.”

“I thought you said you were over that? It’s been two years.” Nate grumbled as he moved away from her, his fingers running through his curly locks.

“It’s been two years since you’ve asked me to go anywhere with you.” She pointed out.

“I’ve been busy with work, Rose.”

“Then how do I know once you book this holiday that you’ll actually go with me?”

“I will.” He sighed. “I don’t want to fight with you Rose.”

“Try fighting for me Nate, instead of against me.”

The look she gave him before leaving the room broke his heart. He had been busy with work, far too busy it seemed. He never realized the impact it had on her, on their marriage. Their anniversary was in two months. He needed to focus on Rose, on them, and less on work in that time to prove to her that he loved her. As Nate slipped back into his chair, he thought back to the last time they had even had dinner together. Resting his elbows on the desk, he leaned his head against his hands as he racked his brain. Had it been that long? When had work become more important than his wife?

He decided to book their holiday and made sure he blocked his calendar for those two weeks they would be gone and a few days after their return, hoping he could have a few extra days with his wife. Now he needed to repair the hole he put into their relationship and prove to Rose that he was there for her, them. Shutting his computer down, he walked out of his office and headed towards the living room where he found Rose sitting in her favorite chair, reading a book. Going over to her, he pressed a kiss to her temple.

“I’m sorry, love. I didn’t realize how much I’ve been missing.”

“I cut my hair twice in the last year, Nate. You never even realized.” Placing the marker in her book, she closed it before standing up. “I can’t keep doing this.”

“Just one more chance Rose, please.” His eyes were wide, he looked almost manic. “I promise I’ll be a better husband.”

Things had been well for them early on in their marriage. It wasn’t until they had been married for just under three years did the problems start. Nate had been promoted and had started working longer hours wanting to impress his new boss. She had been fine with it since he loved his job. But then he started missing dates, missing phone calls, and missing messages that Rose left with his secretary. The worst had been when he missed their anniversary weekend away to Scotland. She had always wanted to go and he had promised they could go. She had made all of the reservations and had their itinerary planned but the day before they were set to leave, Nate had to cancel. Some big meeting he needed to be in town for. Rose had been upset to say the least. She had mentally given him a second chance then, even if he didn’t know it.

“No more putting work before me.”

“I promise.”

Satisfied with his answer, she nodded her head curtly before walking past him without a second glance. She needed some time to wrap her head around all of this. She walked upstairs and went into their bedroom and climbed into their bed. She hoped that he kept his promise this time.

Two months later found them standing outside of the cruise ship that would be taking them to Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal. Things between them were still slightly strained and Nate hoped being together on the ship would bring them closer together. He felt her slip her hand into his, causing him to look down at her. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he let out a quiet breath.

“How many books did you bring with you?”

“Only two.” She gave him a soft smile. “Website said there was a library on board somewhere.”

“We’ll have to find it then. We’re supposed to be out at sea tomorrow, so we can look then.”

“What time do we leave?”

“I’m not certain. I do know we’ll be allowed to start boarding at half four.” Nate took his chance and slipped an arm around Rose’s waist and drew her against his side. Aside from the occasional kiss, handholding, or lingering touch, there wasn’t much physical contact between the pair and Nate had missed her. He knew it was his own fault and hoped he would be able to have a lie in with her as often as he could on this trip.

“I’m glad you booked this.” Rose told him softly as she watched the ship’s crew prepare for their journey. “I can’t wait to see Spain. How long do they usually dock for?”

“I think most days will be from seven in the morning until about six or seven in the evening. They have quite a few things on the ship to keep us busy.”

When they were finally able to board, Nate handed Rose their tickets before grabbing their suitcases. As they were led to their room, they were given a brief overview of where everything was located and which nights there would be on ship entertainment. They had decided the night before to use the room service for dinner at least twice in order to have some time to themselves.

Once they were settled in their suite, Nate paused to watch Rose’s reaction. He had booked one of the more upgraded suites, wanting to be comfortable during their trip. Despite being married for five years and together for seven, she still marveled at the posh life, as she called it.

“We have our own living room?” She questioned, turning around to face him.

“Yes. We have our own dining room as well. Thought we would both go crazy if we were stuck in a room with just a bed and a dresser when we weren’t exploring the ship.”

“This is brilliant, Nate.” She gave him a small grin before heading up the stairs to see the bedroom. “Oh it’s gorgeous up here.” She called down to him. “There’s even a balcony.”

Nate chuckled to himself and grabbed their bags, making his way up the stairs to join his wife. Perhaps this trip would be good for the two of them. Setting the bags down on the bed, he opened them before grabbing the garment bags to hang up.

“Are you going to sleep in here with me?” Rose questioned, her voice soft, a hint of longing mixed in.

“Yes.”

He couldn’t blame her for asking the question. After all, he had been the one to stop sleeping in their room. He hadn’t wanted to wake her, he had admitted to her just a few short weeks ago. He realized then that it had been a mistake, not being home to see her. The one thing that crushed him was when she admitted the thought of him cheating on her floated through her mind once. He could see the regret in her eyes for even mentioning it, but they needed to talk through their issues. That’s how the past two months were spent. Talking.

Abandoning his suitcase, Nate walked over to her and placed a kiss on her cheek. “Do you want to walk around the ship once you’re unpacked?”

“Yeah.” She brushed some hair from her face and gave him a smile. “I shouldn’t be long.”

“Take all the time you need, love.”

She knew he wasn’t talking about just the unpacking.

They left their suite half an hour later and despite the chaos were able to tour half of the ship before finding a quiet spot to look out onto the water as they sailed.

“I took a lot for granted over the past few years.” She told him softly as she rested her hand over his on the railing. “I never told you how I was feeling. I kept saying to myself that you knew, that you would come home one day and everything would be better.”

“Rose, - “

“Let me finish, please.” Seeing his nod she continued. “This is a relationship and we both need to work at it in order to keep us going. I kept pushing this off on you, not wanting to blame myself. Not all of this is on you, Nate. I’m to blame too.”

“We may both be at fault, but I never made any of this easy on you. I should have been home more. I should have been there at night to hold you, hear about your day. I missed out on all of it.”

“What happened that you threw yourself into work? You were never like this.”

“Making partner. I was too wrapped up in it. I wanted to prove that I could do it. Instead I ran myself to the ground. Almost lost you.”

“I’m still here.” She promised him, giving his hand a squeeze. “We’ll work on us and try to get back to normal. But this is it. If we can’t get things to work, I’m not staying anymore.”

Nate nodded his head as he placed his hand on her back, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I promise we’ll get back to where we were.”

“Do you want to explore the rest of the ship?”

“We can do that tomorrow. Let’s walk back to our room. Order dinner.” He held his hand out to her, a hopeful expression on his face.

Rose slipped her hand into his and laced their fingers together as they headed back to the room. She knew they wouldn’t be able to repair everything that night, but she knew over time they would be fine.

The night of their anniversary found them sitting in the dining room of the ship, quietly eating. Nate slid his hand across the table, reaching for hers. With a shy smile, Rose slipped her free hand into his. They had spent the day on the ship and were both looking forward to docking in Spain the next day.

“We won’t be anywhere near Barcelona tomorrow, will we?”

“No, we won’t. Next trip we can go. I will make good on my promise.”

“That was what, six years ago?”

“Yes.” He grinned as he laced their fingers together. “Right after we became engaged. I told you I would take you wherever you wanted to go.”

“I went over to your map and pointed to a random place on the map and landed on Spain then you suggested Barcelona.”

“We could go over New Years, if you want.”

“Maybe we could go next summer. I’d like to have a quiet night this year. Just us.”

Nate thought back to what they had done for New Years and realized he had been working. He recalled Rose mentioning something about going to Jack’s. She must have gone without him. Bringing her hand up, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “We’ll go for our anniversary.”

She gave him a bright grin as she tilted her head to the side. “Are you trying to make this a tradition?”

“Yes, I suppose so. Would you be okay with it?”

“Yeah, I would.”

After they finished dinner, Nate led her away from the dining room and over towards the open area of the ship. He could tell she wasn’t sure where he was taking her, which made him even giddier. At his request, she closed her eyes and let him guide her.

“Where are we going?” She questioned as she tried not to bump into anything.

“You’ll see.”

They walked for a few more moments before he stopped her and told her to open her eyes. They were in the middle of the helipad and Rose could hear soft music playing nearby. Nate pressed a hand to her lower back and whispered for her to open her eyes. He watched as she slowly opened her eyes as a wide smile splayed across her lips.

“We’re at the bow. Why are we at the bow?” She had mentioned wanting to see the ocean from the bow but had decided against it once she knew it was also the helipad.

“I wanted to dance. We usually go somewhere we can dance on our anniversary. I know we missed out on it last year and wanted to make this year special.” He held his hand out to her, his best smile on display. “May I have this dance?”

“Yeah.” She laughed softly as she slipped her hand into his only to let out a playful shriek when he pulled her against him. Resting her friend hand on his shoulder, she leaned her forehead against his as they danced.

Nate closed his eyes and hummed quietly to the music as they moved. All he had wanted was to see the smile on her face again and he did. He knew there was much to be made up for, but as long as he could see her smile, he knew there was hope.

“I love you, Rose. Happy Anniversary.” He whispered, drawing her just a little bit closer to him.

“I love you too, Nate. Happy Anniversary.”

Midnight would come before he suggested they make the long walk back to their rooms. He would thank the lad that helped him to get the music out towards the helipad area the next day. Tonight was about him and Rose. Nothing else mattered.


End file.
